Lady Vols basketball is set to begin year two under Kim Caldwell. Off a Sweet 16 run a year ago, Tennessee is set to return some key pieces mixed with a strong recruiting class.
Ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, Caldwell met with the media during local media day. She was asked about the new players, the scrimmage vs. North Carolina, the season-opener with NC State and more.
Here’s everything she said.
More From RTI: WATCH: Lady Vols Basketball Coach Kim Caldwell Speaks at Media Day
On changes she made as a coach this offseason
“The length of that list is very long. It was probably after I talked to every individual staff member, our ops, our trainer, our strength and conditioning coach, we probably had three pages of things that we knew that we could alter, change, tweak. And we have really dove into that. We’ve really become obsessed about getting better, and obviously, your second time around is much more familiar. You know your scouts, not every team you play is brand new. You’re not having to do everything for the first time. But there’s a lot of different things that we want to grow upon and just flat out change where I think we can get some points back.”
On transfer forwards Janiah Barker, Jersey Wolfenbarger
“Jersey can bring a lot of offensive rebounds. She can guard up in the front of our press. She can fly around. She’s the fastest player I’ve ever seen at her size. She can run on the track with our guards and be right up there with the guards. She’s almost like a freak of nature in that regard. She can play outside, she can play inside, she’s doing a very good job of fitting into her role. So, she has been a really nice addition for us.
“Janiah has been fantastic, she’s a good leader for us. I think we are still figuring out how great she can be. She can shoot the three, she can get to the rim, she’s a phenomenal passer, she’s a lockdown defender. We’re still trying to get her fully, it takes some time to fully, hey this is how we do it, this is how good you can be, and I think once it clicks for her, and it’s starting to click, I think the sky is the limit.”
On the closed-door scrimmage vs. North Carolina
“We’ve had several competitions vs. our practice guys, as well, and we have to get a lot better. I think we’ve seen some things click, but I guess the last time I talked to you, I talked about how we’re gonna shoot less threes and we seem to be settling for threes. We’re not rebounding anywhere close to where I want to be rebounding. We’re not getting into the paint enough. We’re not putting enough pressure on the rim. We’re taking plays off. Our help side – I mean, there’s a lot. Again, that list is like 25 pages long. It’s rapidly approaching.
“The energy has been good. The mindset has been good. Still kind of growing, working our way into it, but a lot to clean up.”
On Janiah Barker saying freshman Jaida Civil is a name people need to know
“Because she’s really good and she’s fearless and she flies around. She is not afraid of anyone, she’ll talk smack with our practice guys, she’ll talk smack with our best players, she doesn’t care. She’s a great human being and she’s going to be really good.”
On what she expects from Kaiya Wynn
“It’s a tough injury, hard injury to recover from. So she’s been slowly getting back into it. She’s a really good leader for us. She knows her role. She plays it well. She’s a good defender. She runs. She’s still trying to fit into that role to get back. But she’s a big player for us in regards to just what she brings to the table as she knows what it takes. She knows what it’s like to be a Lady Vol. She knows what that means. And she’s doing a really good job of communicating that to our eight new ones.”
On Jaida Civil’s biggest area of growth heading into her freshman year
“I think she’s been great mentally. When she first got here, she would really, really get down on herself and have moments where she would just be out of it for a while over the slightest mistake and we don’t see that out of her anymore and that’s great because a lot of times that takes a whole season to fix and she fixed it over the summer. And then she’s really developed her three-point shot. So she’s shooting that with confidence as well.”
On opening the season against NC State
“Our practices have been intense. Our practices have been competitive, trying to keep it like that. Shout out to our practice squad. That’s one thing that was on our list of things we needed to improve. And our guys practice team, our male practice team, has been phenomenal. They show up every day. They play our players to their weaknesses. They make us better. And so we’ve really spent a lot of time going up and down vs. them and being competitive with them, so that when the ball goes up we’re ready.”
On the freshman class building the foundation
“They are our foundation. We’re building around them. Not a whole lot more needs to be said. They’re phenomenal. They compete. They push our upperclassmen to be better. Our upperclassmen are playing in fear that our freshmen are going to take their spot and our freshmen are going to play. They’re helping us right away. They’re changing our culture right away and we’re building around them.”
On Kaniya Boyd
“Yeah, we want to get more out of her. I’ll say that. I don’t think we saw anywhere towards her full potential last year and I want more than anything for this to be a better year for her.”
On Zee Spearman
“Yeah, she needs to work on her consistency, but absolutely, I think she played great basketball last year and she really made a name for herself. And I think all of that led to more confidence and I think the three-on-three made her a more confident player and I’m really hoping that that momentum can carry into her final season.”
On what she wants to see in the exhibition
“Yeah, we better be elite defensively in that game. We better take great shots and then the pace is really important and then you’re always looking at who’s going to provide what, who knows their role and what is our energy and our effort looking like, which it should be would be great because we finally get to play in front of people.”
On what makes Janiah Barker a WNBA prospect
“I think her size and athleticism with her skill set is something like I have never seen before. She has the athleticism almost of Jaida Civil but at her size. And when she really decides to put her head down and go to the rim, it’s scary.”
On having athletic players, why this team can get further in the NCAA Tournament
“Without a doubt we’re more athletic. It’s obviously the most athletic team I’ve ever had. I like athletes. I like players that can score. I like players that can go. I like players that can defend. I like players with a high motor that can get up and down. We have a team full of them and that’s why I am a little bit surprised that when we have gone against other people that we haven’t got to the rim as much because that’s really what they were brought here to do and we’ve been shooting the three. So just working on growing that. And I think that on paper we look really good. We just have to be consistent and stay out of our own way and then hopefully we can improve upon last year.”
On players not settling for threes, needing to drive more
“I think all of that goes into analytics and showing them on paper what shots they’re taking, what shots they should be taking, where they’re the most efficient on the floor. I do think it comes with, we practice so many threes, so they just shoot so many threes. And then it also has to do with everyone still is trying to establish their role, settle in their role, and earn their playing time at the same time, and that’s kind of a hard balance this time of year. Hey, you’re trying to get on the floor and you’re trying to earn more shots, but you have to know that I have to know that you’re playing in your role. And that’s where we’re at at this point in the season.”
On the challenges this year
“Oh, challenge every day. It’s coaching. But it’s been great because they’re not all new faces. So it’s been really nice to have six returners that can really help our newcomers and teach and talk about the flow of the game and how it’s a game of runs and what to expect and what drills we’re doing. And then I have some people like an echo things on the floor, which makes practices flow a lot quicker and makes the learning curve not as steep.”
